Christine Marie Janis
Christine Marie Janis is Professor Emerita of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University and an Honorary Professor at the University of Bristol. Janis’ research focuses on the study of fossils to examine mammal evolution over the past 25 million years. She specializes in large herbivores, particularly their community structure and what their anatomy can reveal about past behavior. Her work has shown that a lineage of extinct kangaroos walked bipedally rather than hopped and explained why horses evolved to have only a single toe.
In 2024, Janis was awarded the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. She earned a B.A. in Natural Sciences and Zoology from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in Vertebrate Paleontology from Harvard University.